With Shark Week now in full swing (swim?), the ocean's most effective predator is having his yearly celebrity moment, and ordinary sharks all over the world are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame.

But let's not forget that none of it would be possible if not for these superlative sharks who paved the way for their species, fascinating audiences everywhere with their astonishing feats of sharkitude -- from precipitating classic movie one-liners in "Jaws," to whirling overhead in "Sharknado," to cutting off an Oscar-nominated actor mid-speech in "Deep Blue Sea." So today, we're paying our respects to the sharks who hold our attention, earn our respect, and scare our pants off the other 358 days out of the year, with this roundup of the most accomplished sharks ever to steal our hearts. Or legs.

Most Self-Loathing Shark: Bruce from "Finding Nemo"

Even on his most evolved days, poor Bruce is still a shark, and he hates that.

Shyest Shark: The unseen killers in "Open Water"

The sharks that terrorize a stranded pair of scuba divers in this 2003 film prefer to do their mauling in privacy.

Biggest Jerk Shark: The shark from "Soul Surfer"

Not OK, shark.

Trendsetting Shark: "Jaws"

This guy was terrorizing innocent civilians way before it was cool.

Hungriest Shark: This selfish monster from "Deep Blue Sea"

The only possible excuse for chowing down on a mid-monologue Samuel L. Jackson is that this shark would otherwise have starved to death within the next three seconds.

Most Confused Shark: The one and only "Sharktopus"

This shark wanders the beach for hours looking for one person who can tell him why he even exists.

Most Progressive Shark: The shark from "Shark Night"

Maybe you should check your privilege before tossing around insensitive phrases like "jump the shark." Or before trying to actually jump over a shark.

Most Likely to Succeed (Until He Failed): "Sharknado" shark

Though he met an ignominious end at the hands of Ian Ziering, this ambitious predator with big dreams refused to believe all the haters who told him that sharks couldn't fly.